The FIA's contract recognition board was not disclosing any details of
the hearing, held on Saturday, staged to determine whether the
24-year-old driver is allowed to move from BAR to Williams in 2005.

Sir Frank Williams and David Richards, as well as up to three-man
legal teams, traveled to Italy for the meeting, and a decision is
expected by Wednesday, a spokesman revealed.

British pundit Martin Brundle reckons the CRB's decision could go
either way, even if the F1 paddock puts BAR in pole position.

He told website Crash.net: ''I can think of five people saying,
categorically, (that he's) staying where he is, and five people who
should be in the know telling me he's moving.''

Jacques' last chance
(GMM - Oct.18) Jacques Villeneuve has one more chance to prove Renault
were right to sack Jarno Trulli and launch a former world champion
back onto motor racing's highest stage.

The French-Canadian has not impressed since leaving a forced
sabbatical to help the Enstone-based team beat former employer BAR to
second in the constructors' championship.

''Suzuka was a tough race for me,'' he admitted, ''so (Renault)
changed the test scheduled to allow me to run at (last week's) test in
Jerez.''

Villeneuve, 33, did only a single day at the wheel of the R24, to
better get to know a difficult-handling car but also to improve
physical fitness.

Interlagos, a fairly high speed circuit, is nonetheless particularly
tough on drivers as it is run in the unfamiliar anti-clockwise
configuration.

Jacques admits he didn't do as many laps as he would have liked in
Spain last week. ''(But) hopefully, it will enable me to run more
competitively in my last race for the team.''

Williams was quoted as saying on the team website: ''All we know is
that when he's driving a (BMW-Williams), he's very competitive.''

Of the racer nicknamed 'Jungle Boy', Williams said Pizzonia - quickest
on two of the three days at Jerez last week - has 'exactly the same'
application whether 'testing or racing.'

Chirac wins FIA prize
(GMM - Oct.18) French president Jacques Chirac is the first winner of
the FIA 'World Prize for Road Safety.'

''Wearing seat belts, enforcement of drink driving laws, respecting
speed limits (and) better road design are all measures that work if
governments have the courage and conviction to apply them,'' said F1's
governing body.

Another inaugural award, the 'FIA Gold Medal for Motor Sport,' was
presented to Monaco's Prince Rainier.

Ferrari find new winter venue
(GMM - Oct.18) Luca Badoer tested a Ferrari F2004 at the Vallelunga
circuit last week to see if it could be a 'viable alternative' for
winter F1 testing.

The Italian track may provide warmer weather than Ferrari's own
Fiorano and Mugello venues so as to conduct meaningful pre-season
development.

Last year, the Colombian copped a hefty fine - and lost his European
driving license - following a 122mph run-in with the French
constabulary.

Clearly, he didn't learn his lesson.

He told UK newspaper The Times: ''The whole speed limit thing is
ridiculous. The motorway speed limits were brought in during the fuel
crisis when cars did about 100mph. Today they'll do over 200, and they
are much safer.''

As a political compromise, though, 29-year-old 'President Montoya'
would apply a rule whereby speed limits are enforced based on a
driver's experience.

He wondered: ''Why not make the speed limit dependent on the skill of
the driver?''

The circuit in Brazil, located just outside the sprawling megalopolis
of Sao Paulo, is 700 meters above sea-level.

''The atmospheric pressure, which is usually situated at around 1000
millibars, is (therefore) reduced to around 920,'' said Renault's
engine man Denis Chevrier.

An aspirated engine feeds on oxygen, so - if there is less oxygen in
the air - the effective combustion will be lower.

Chevrier said an Interlagos-spec V10 is about eight per cent less
powerful than at a normal grand prix venue.

Rain in Brazil
(GMM - Oct.18) Even though a typhoon nearly hit the Japanese grand
prix, rain has not affected F1 race day throughout 2004.

In Brazil for the season finale this weekend, that could all be about
to change.

A wet and windy day will greet early arrivals of the traveling circus
just outside Sao Paulo on Monday, and the cloud is expected to stick
around all week.

It'll definitely rain on Monday and Tuesday, and forecasters also say
clearing weather may succumb to more rain on Friday morning - the
first day of practice - and again for the grand prix on Sunday.

Saturday should be mostly clear.

''The weather can be unpredictable in that part of the world,'' BAR
driver Takuma Sato said last Friday, ''and the time difference between
Japan and Brazil is huge.''

Williams won't pursue Button
(GMM - Oct.18) Williams will not pursue Jenson Button if he is told to
stay with current Formula One employer BAR-Honda.

A team spokesman told UK newspaper 'The Guardian' that Sir Frank
Williams is happy to abide, rather than fight through an alternate
legal process, the decision of the FIA-sponsored contract recognition
board.

He added: ''I don't think we would seek to take the matter (any)
further.''

Prior to the decisive (CRB) hearing in a Milan hotel on Saturday,
whose decision will be published by Wednesday afternoon, the F1 rumor
mill said BAR looked destined to win their man.

Former triple world champion Niki Lauda doesn't know which team he
would have selected if he'd been in Jenson's shoes.

The Austrian said: ''Either way, it is crucial at this stage of
(Button's) career that he ends up in the right place.''

''We concluded that the acquisition (of Jordan) would never enable us
fully to demonstrate our own commitment and excellence,'' he said,
''since success would inevitably have been linked with the existing
team's brand and values.''

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Team Dubai F1's advising group (Belgravia)
confirmed that plans for a customer Mercedes-Benz engine supply were
'well advanced.'

He said the 2006 'Dubai' engine would be the same specification as
McLaren's.

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